


The Rain Falls Slowly

by sierrasangster



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: "I'm not gay" lol ok, Alternate Universe - High School, Eren has no shame, Eren like kpop, Fluff, Junior Eren, Lab Partners, Levi has DIMPLES, Levi's strawberry pink headphones, M/M, Senior Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), ereri, guarantee to cry, he has an adopted sister, long fic, lots of fluff, packed with sweetness tho, riren - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-17 18:19:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10599549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sierrasangster/pseuds/sierrasangster
Summary: All Levi wanted to do, was to fall in love with a nice girl like any other 17-year-old guy. But, instead he found himself with butterflies whenever the boy with the pine-green eyes would happen to meet his gaze. Levi struggled confronting his lab partner daily, and the boy's overall flirtatious demeanor wasn't helping Levi with his problem— that he liked Eren Jaeger. A guy a grade below him who sucked at school but somehow made the sports teams, who always smelled of pinecones, who was a fan of K-pop, who's favorite thing was the rain, and was dying.





	

* * *

The plane shook again and my baby sister Isabel wailed as Mom tried to shush her. The man sitting next to them huffed and mumbled as he turned away. I thoughtlessly leaned forward and glared at the side of his face until his attention was on me, he shifted uncomfortably with an apologetic look. If Mom wasn't so occupied with Isabel she would be telling me, _Levi, don't give people the death stare._

Everyone would say that I looked exactly like her. And we did, it was our raven-colored hair and pale skin, many people don't believe we moved from the sunniest place in the country. We have the same expressions, it's a habit of ours to furrow our eyebrows without reasons. Our eyes are the same silver color that changes into a light blue in summer. Except, on her they're childlike— so wide and pale— which makes her look like my big sister rather than my mom. On me the pale silver is less youthful but more... unresolved. I often give the impression of an unamused seven-year-old.

During the next four hours flying, I dreamed that Mom bought a _Dyson Ball Multi-Floor Upright Vacuum_  for me, until I felt someone shake my shoulder.

Before, the skies were a usual bright blue with only a few fluffy clouds to be seen. But now as I looked out the fogged window, a bazillion rain drops pounded the cement as fast as the occasional lightning. It thudded against the plane roof so hard that people had to almost yell to speak.

Once we landed, we rushed into a taxi that would bring us to our new home, Shiganshina. A small town that's cold and rainy under a near-constant cover of clouds.

By the time we went inside our house for the first time, the storm calmed down to a drizzle. We were eager to explore our new home together, well, new-to-us home. As we walked further in, there was a creaky staircase to our left and the living room to our right that lead into a tiny kitchen. Upstairs held a dark hall with three bedrooms, one bathroom, and a closet that would soon be the sanctuary of my cleaning supplies.

It was small but cozy, perfect for us.

"Which room do you want?" Mom asked as she readjusted Isabel in her arms. 

"The one at the end of the hallway. I like the view." I lied, it just looked simple to clean. My new room had one window that showed our backyard, which was an endless forest of green. There was too much of my least favorite color around me— hopefully by spring color will start to bloom. 

It was the next day that I started school, but if I had known that tomorrow would have been one of the worst days in my life then I would have gladly stayed in bed.

Mom packed my lunch, dropped Isabel at daycare, then came to the school office with me to get settled in.

All day I felt eyes on me, I was the new kid that moved from across the country. I was careful to keep quiet, some girls giggled and whispered while some boys would glance my way and assess. Recess was torturous, everyone had at least someone to play with. I would stand awkwardly at the edge of the gym room as my classmates happily played with their friends. One of the teachers had me stand up in front of the class and introduce myself, I felt splotches of red form on my cheeks as I stuttered out something as simple as  _Hi, I'm Levi_. Then during lunch, I sat alone at the corner of the cafeteria. I was a little sad and offended that no one invited me over to their table, maybe I was hard to approach? The day dragged on and Iv'e never felt so left out and insignificant until my first day of elementary school, it was simply a miserable day. 

Ever since then I made sure to always sit at the back of the class and eat my lunches with my favorite teacher, Miss Zoë. She reminded me of Mom because she kept a cool face, talked in a hush voice, and always had something nice to say. I ended up eating with her during every lunch all throughout my second grade year. Except one day as I went to take my seat across from her desk, I saw a girl. 

"Levi, this is my daughter Hange. You may know her, she's in the same grade as you." I felt slightly guilty that I didn't recognize her, but I can recall hearing numerous teachers yelling that name;  _Hange Zoe! Don't cut people's hair with scissors!_ or N _o eating in the classroom Hange!_

"Hi, Levi!" Hange yelled, I guess she was familiar with me. The first thing I noticed was her bulky glasses, her memorable big brown eyes and that cheeky smile. How come Iv'e never noticed such a striking person?

"Hi." I responded, almost above a whisper.

"Do you wanna cupcake?" She offered.

I shook my head no, then sat in a desk next to her. The girl shoved the cupcake in her mouth in a single bite, purple frosting and crumbs covered her face. She somehow managed to get some frosting on the tip of her nose. I have never in my life, seen a person nearly as sloppy and hasty as Hange Zoë, she has no shame.

Over time, I got to know Hange pretty well. She loved baking, always had something to say, would  _try_ to get me to participate in her weird experiments, and studied science things that we wouldn't have to learn until high school. It amazed me how different she was from her Mom regarding personality.

I never say it, but she's my best friend. We would go over each other's houses, climb trees, watch scary movies we weren't supposed to see, but mostly go out to eat at our favorite ice-cream place which was the only ice-cream place in town, even if the weather was bad. I could laugh until I snorted or cried, share secrets, and casually make inappropriate jokes, mostly about poop, with her. There was never a dull moment with Hange.

Then I met her friend Erwin, he had ocean-blue eyes and blonde hair that was cut similar to mine, we both had undercuts. Only his hair was shorter, and combed back neatly while mine was longer and left down. It was funny since both of our Moms cut our hair, later on they also became friends with each other, it made it easrier for Erwin and I to hang out.

It wasn't too long until I began to notice our height difference but I didn't worry too much about it, I would tell myself that I'd hit my growth spurt in my teens.

It was nice to be his friend when I lived with all girls and only had Hange. I admired how smart and dedicated Erwin was, even at such a young age. 

A day that changed me was on a Monday afternoon in eighth grade, it was the first time in my life that I beat the crap out of someone, and for a perfectly good reason. Ever since, I earned a reputation for myself that caused people to stay away from me.

It began at the end of a regular school day, the air was warm and humid, the fog lingering over the trees.

Hange and I were about to meet with Erwin until a guy, that has always been picking on Hange since the beginning the year for no fucking reason, suddenly walked over to us. He wore a smug smile and completely ignored my existence as he slapped her butt and had the audacity to say, "Wanna come over?" 

I'm surprised I didn't snap right then and there.

"No."

His eyes flickered down on me— fuck, he was pretty tall— then back to her, "Why, you gonna bang that midget instead? You're always with him."

Hange ignored him, turned the other direction and started walking away. But he snatched onto her wrist and whispered, "I thought you were easy." I never knew a person could be such trash.

Without thinking I shoved him away from her and threw a punch. He swung at me, but I dodged and got him in the nose. Then the dickhead tackled me onto the sidewalk but I was able to flip over and pin him down. We were both hitting each other nonstop either in the face or stomach. He ended up giving in and just tried to block my hits. By the time one of the teachers pulled me off of him, I looked at his busted face, which was already busted to begin with— broken nose, bloody teeth, swollen cheek and soon-to-be black eye.

"Don't ever, _ever_ go near her again. Yeah?"

He nodded once, regret shown in his tiny, beady, eyes. That's satisfying. 

I didn't notice until now, that a group of students surrounded us in a tight circle. I squeezed my way through to look for Hange to see if she was okay.

Then I felt someone grab my wrist, it was her, "Levi! You're amazing! What the hell? Why didn't you tell me you had those moves? I'm sure- whoa, stay still."

"What?" Hange took a picture of me and revealed the aftermath of our fight. 

He didn't break anything, but I was going to have to deal with a cut up face and black eye for awhile .

I'm sure Mom was notified already before I came home, I had no idea what to expect. So I already deleted inappropriate pictures from my phone before she decided to confiscate it. I slowly opened the door but it still creaked loudly through the silent house. I stepped inside, locked the door, and started creeping upstairs until I heard someone clear their throat. Mom was sitting on the coach looking at me in a unreadable expression, now she looks exactly like me on a regular basis. She patted the cushion next to her, a silent order for me to sit. 

She motioned with her hands for me to explain myself.

"This dickhea- ugh, guy in school crossed the line. He's been picking on Hange so much and I just... snapped. Iv'e never felt that before." I looked down at my now cut-up knuckles, "sorry." I mumbled. When she didn't respond, I peeked up at her and found that she was smiling.

"Your a good friend, Levi," she took my chin and inspected my face, "he got you good, huh?"

I sighed, "Yeah, but he looked worse."

"I'll teach you some of my moves." 

"Sure." I said sarcastically.

"You didn't know? I used to be a professional boxer."

"Your'e joking." 

"Nope. Even your little sister knows this. I have gloves and pads we can practice with, come on."  
   
   
I ended up passing with high honors every year thanks to my motivational, brainiac friends. But during those years, to my dismay, my Mom was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. She became so sick and withered away after treatments, she would usually spend her days in bed or in the hospital. Isabel and I always tried our best to think positively and help her out in any way we could.

And now I'm entering my senior year of high school. But something's been bothering me all summer and I couldn't pinpoint why.

I leaned back in my chair, feet resting on my desk, I gazed out the window. The grey clouds threatened to send down heavy rain in any moment. I still couldn't find myself liking this weather, even after ten years living here I can't tolerate it. Before I heard the heavy thudding of raindrops hitting the roof, I was trying to read _Milk and Honey_  by Rupi Kaur, only Mom knows I love this book, it's more on the feminine side. A few moments later, thunder roared violently. I saw a flash of lightning illuminate the sky and I almost fell backwards. 

After closing the blinds and wrapping myself in a blanket, I went downstairs. Isabel was in the living room looking out the window, of course.

"Big bro, look at the storm!" 

"Tch." I plumped onto the couch and closed my eyes.

"It's so peaceful." She mumbled.

In no way was rain crashing to the ground with lighting flashing everywhere peaceful. If anything, it could probably give people seizures.

"It's okay Levi, you'll understand it someday." She said in an oh-so-wise voice. Then Isabel went to text on her phone that kept vibrating nonstop for a solid two minutes.

"Who the hell is texting you so much?" I asked annoyed.

When she didn't respond I peeked at her, her eyes glued to her screen. Kids and their gadgets. She typed at forty miles per hour with a large grin on her face.

"Isabel?" 

"It's my boyfriend, his name is Tommy and he has a really cute butt, all the girls in my grade think so too. And he—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa— whoa. You're dating? You're twelve! How old is he?"

"He's gonna be fourteen soon." 

"No way am I letting my baby sister date someone two years older than her," I laughed, "no way."

"Levi-bro! I'm not a baby! And it's not your decision," she turned her back on me and continued to watch the rain, "you're just jealous because you've never had a girlfriend." 

Lightning strikes in synchronization as realization hits me for the first time. I'm such an idiot. 

I felt my stomach churn when I heard those words, but that was it, that's what's missing in my life— a girlfriend. 

I immediately text Erwin and Hange in our _Not Today Satan( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_ group chat about my new found problem because holy shit, I'm almost eighteen with no dating experience whatsoever.

During the first week of school, I'm eating today's cold, soggy macaroni with Hange in the cafeteria.

She's been having fun teasing me, she said that I was too short for any girl and joked that I won't have my first kiss until my mid-twenties, which would be pretty fucking sad.

"Hon, let me hook you up with my friend. She's really nice and cute," Hange leaned closer to me with a serious look and whispered, "she has a nice ass."

"Really? That's great, when can we meet?"

Hange's eyes lit up, not understanding my sarcasm. 

"I was joking." She groaned and took a frustrated bite of her food.

"I'm just trying to help you!" She said with a mouth full of gross mush, "haven't you had crushes? How come you never asked any of them out?"

I thought for a moment but had no real explanation. Maybe I didn't have the guts or energy to dedicate so much time into a girl? I've never had a problem being single until I felt pressured to be at least experienced with dating. And a definite positive would be the cuddling, especially on those cold rainy days which happens to be _everyday_. 

"I think I've been too shy." I admit.

Hange nods knowingly.

"Well, your the type of person that keeps to yourself. There's nothing bad about that."

"I'm not in a rush to get a girlfriend but now I'm aware that I should be... looking for someone. I don't just want to 'hook up' with someone," I paused, trying to choose the right words, "maybe instead, I can date someone that will stick around and take it slow? I don't know."

Hange gave me a small smile, "So no hoes?"

I laughed, "Not today."

"As long as my shorty is happy! Hey, perhaps my friend could be that person your looking for? At least meet her? Please~" She begged, brown eyes filled with hope. 

I sighed and rubbed my eyes, "Whatever, I don't care." 

She squealed, almost fell out of her seat then pecked my cheek with a friendly kiss.

"I know you'll be super busy sleeping, reading, and being non-social but I'll be having some people over my house this weekend so you should come. My friend will be there too, you are gonna love her."

And so, instead of spending my Friday huddled in my room or working, I was going to go to Hange's to meet my maybe-future-girlfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading <3, this chapter was slow since it started with Levi being a kid (I wanted people to know what happened before getting into everything) BUT I'll be getting into the good stuff v soon so stick around ;). 
> 
> And I'm just gonna say it now, I am so so so sorry if I slipped up and made a scene/ line out of character for someone! Ik it can be annoying to read but sometimes writers bring themselves into the characters on accident. (it would help if you could tell me where/how I goofed hehe)
> 
> But thank u so much for reading my first fic :,) I love ereri sm, it was about time.


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